All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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When Skye Messinger was drafted in the 22nd round by the Chicago Cubs coming out of Niwot High School in 2017, he had a difficult decision to make – take the bonus money they were offering, or accept a scholarship to play Division I baseball at the University of Kansas. Messinger opted for the college experience, turning down the Cubs' offer to go to KU, where he had a solid career, albeit one interrupted by Covid-19. He reasoned that if he were good enough, he would have a chance to play p...
A Niwot Youth Sports week-long baseball camp was a casualty of Covid-19 for the past two years, but with restrictions lifted, the popular camp returned, as did former camp director Bob Bote. For years, dating back to the early 1980s, Bote conducted a baseball camp for players 5 to 13, using high school players as camp coaches. Bote, who served as the Niwot High School head coach from 1979 through 2006, won five state Class 4A state titles during his tenure, and his summer camps, often sponsored...
The monthly Niwot Business Association meeting, hosted by Pat Murphy and the Niwot Group-Compass June 14 at their offices at 7916 Niwot Road, included a lively discussion of food trucks and other mobile vendors in Niwot. NBA president Eric Bergeson of Niwot Wheel Works noted that the topic had come up at the NBA Executive Committee meeting and at the Niwot Future League (NFL) meeting recently. The main issues discussed were whether food trucks and other mobile vendors should pay a fee to the...
Niwot's historic connection to Native Americans will take on a new look with the installation of four murals in Cottonwood Square shopping center. The Niwot Local Improvement District advisory committee recommended approval of a funding request from the owners of Cottonwood Square and the Jerry Sinor Building that provides for the LID to cover 75% of the $12,900 cost of the murals. The request was approved June 7 by LID members Eric Bergeson, Mary Coonce, Jeff Knight and Scott Firle. The...
For the first time in its 50-year history, Niwot High School will be able to host a varsity football game at the school this fall. "We should have it ready by the end of August," Athletic Director Joe Brown said. The grass turf on what has until now been used solely as a practice field by the NHS varsity has been removed, and work has begun on installation of new artificial turf. Last summer, lights were installed at the field, and the artificial turf will allow the school to host football and s...
On June 15, the Boulder County Planning Commission will consider a request to plat 11 lots in the Niwot Hills Subdivision just south of Niwot High School. The location of the lots are 6775 Niwot Hills Drive, and the applicant is Michael Markel, agent for both the Ridgeline Development Corporation and Niwot Hills, LLC. According to Pete L'Orange, Planner II, of Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting, "This docket combines the Preliminary Plan and Final Plat processes into a single...
Niwot High took four golfers to the state Class 4A state championship at Tiara Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction May 31-June 1, and the results did not disappoint. "We had a great state tournament," Head Coach Ed Weaver said. "We finished fifth place overall, which I'm very happy with. After the first day, we were fifth, but sixth, seventh and eighth place teams were very close." The Cougars separated from the pack on day two, finishing 26 strokes ahead of sixth-place Cheyenne Mountain. Erie...
Rock & Rails is a well-loved, much-attended community event in Niwot's very own Whistle Stop Park. As the recipient of the 2006 Governor's Award for Downtown Excellence for Best Promotional Event, Rock & Rails benefits many who volunteer to make all the magic happen. The free summer concert series takes the stage at Niwot's Whistle Stop Park at 1st Avenue and Murray Street in historic downtown Niwot, Colorado, and is produced by the Niwot Cultural Arts Association in conjunction with the Niwot...
"Kore That Awakening," a sculpture on loan from Ukrainian artist Egor Zigura, is getting closer to calling Niwot home. On April 1, the Sculpture Park Committee of the Niwot Cultural Arts Association (NCAA), made up of Anne Postle, Lisa Rivard, and Jill Whitener, kicked off a fundraising effort to purchase the sculpture. Since the event, the fund to purchase the $25,000 sculpture has continued to grow. Vicki Maurer, treasurer of the NCAA, said the total money raised to date sits at $9,899.60....
The Niwot High boys track team entered the state Class 4A meet as the defending state champion, and came close to a repeat, finishing in a tie for second with Cheyenne Mountain at 60 points each, just behind Longmont with 76. The Cougars were led by senior Zane Bergen, who won the 800m (1:52.07) by more than two seconds, and took second in the 1600m and fourth in the 3200m (9:08.60). Bergen, who will run for Stanford next year, was also a part of the winning 4 x 400 relay team. “He’s a great kid,” Head Coach Maurice Henriques said. “He definit...
Niwot track and field coach Maurice Henriques celebrated a third straight Class 4A state championship with his girls, which for the first time included his daughter, freshman Eliana Henriques, who ran the first leg (100m) of the winning sprint medley relay(1:48.80). The Cougars scored a dominating 170 points. Mullen, which finished second, scored 61. Senior Eva Klingbeil led the way with victories in the 1600m (4:49.66) and 3200m (10:29.62), and also ran the anchor leg on the winning 4 X 800 relay. “She had great times,” Henriques said. “He...
Senior Anna Sallee led the Niwot girls tennis team to a fifth-place finish at the Class 4A state tournament in Pueblo May 12-14. Sallee took home the No. 2 singles state title with a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 win over Pine Creek senior Manoela Amantini Quintanilha. Sallee finished second in No. 2 singles in 2021. Sallee advanced easily through the first two rounds, 6-0, 6-0 victories over both opponents, from Thomas Jefferson and Windsor, respectively. Her semi-final victory came over Kent...
Rock & Rails, Niwot's signature summer concert series, kicks off the 2022 season on June 2 with popular local guitarist Kevin Dooley opening for Funkiphino at Whistle Stop Park, located at the intersection of 1st Avenue and Murray Street. Satir DeMarco, who has booked the bands for Niwot's summer concert series since its start in 2006, announced the lineup. Funkiphino is a 13-member band, based out of Longmont, which performed in Washington, D.C. for the 55th Presidential Inaugural Ball in...
The Friday night summer car shows outside of Niwot Market return Friday, May 27. Bert Steele, owner of Niwot Market, will park his classic red pickup in the parking lot, and invites other car enthusiasts to display their classic vehicles from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. In the past, the event has attracted vehicles and their owners from various communities in Colorado. The public is invited to inspect the vehicles, listen to the stories behind the vehicles, and reminisce. Vehicle owners can pick up a...
The area around in and around Niwot, known as the Left Hand Valley, has deep agricultural roots dating back to the late 1800s in the early settlement days of Colorado Pioneer families such as the Caywoods, Williamses and the Goulds turned the prairie land into productive soils, producing wheat, sugar beets, and alfalfa. Many farms started alongside the nearby railroads and Niwot became a farming town, even having it;s own dairy and creamery. Many homes were built on farmland in the early 1900s,...
The Niwot Cougars traveled to Monument to take on the fourth-seeded Palmer Ridge girls soccer team in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. Niwot entered the playoffs as the 29th seed, with a record of 8-7, while Palmer Ridge was 13-2-1. The Cougars started the season with a non-league 1-0 loss to Palmer Ridge. After a non-league 1-0 win over Skyline, Niwot suffered a 4-game losing streak, but only one of the games, a 4-0 loss to Northridge, was a league contest. Northridge went 9-0 in the...
The Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) approved five funding requests at its regular meeting May 3, including funding for three popular community events. Scott Firle chaired the meeting, with advisory board members Lisa Rivard, Cornelia Sawle, Bruce Rabeler, Jeff Knight, Heidi Storz and Keith Waters also in attendance, along with Boulder County liaison Mark Ruzzin. The Niwot Cultural Arts Association (NCAA) and the Niwot Business Association (NBA), co-managers of the Rock & Rails summer...
Niwot resident Leonard Sitongia was selected as one of seven volunteers to be recognized by Boulder County during National Volunteer Week. Sitongia, who serves on the board of directors of the Niwot Community Association and the Niwot Historical Society, was recognized for his work with the Community Planning and Permitting Department’s Mobility for All Technology Ambassador Program. He has donated over 200 hours to the M4A program. For his efforts, Sitongia received a grant of $900 to support his continued work on the M4A program. Sitongia r...
Colorado Landmark Realtors, based in Boulder County, was recognized by Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® for its Marshall Fire recovery efforts. President and CEO Paul Boomsma announced the "Leading RE Good Things" award April 15 based on the company's "incredible efforts" in assisting Boulder County residents affected by the Marshall Fire in January of this year. This recognition was shared across 70 countries and over 150,000 real estate agents across the globe. In a press releas...
Tennis Taylor Thulson (Niwot 2018) helped Carleton College to a return trip the NCAA Championships in women's tennis. Carleton College, located in Northfield, Minn., a Div. I program, qualified for the NCAA tournament for the eighth time, and the first time since 2019. Carleton (15-1) entered the MIAC Playoffs seeded No. 2, but defeated the top seeded and 37th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College 5-1 in the conference finals. Carleton's only loss this season had come against Gustavus. Thulson, a...
A seventh-inning come-from-behind victory over Thompson Valley May 5 sparked the Niwot Cougar baseball team to follow up with an 11-1 mercy-rule win over Adams City May 7. In the Thursday game, two walks followed by two singles and a stolen base led to three quick runs for Thompson Valley. Senior starter Jack Brooker walked two more batters to load the bases with no outs, and a wild pitch led to a fourth run, but Brooker settled down to retire the next hitter on a ground ball to first baseman...
Getting ready for the state track & field championships which begin May 19 is nothing new for the Niwot Cougars, as both the boys and girls squads are defending Class 4A champions. “We probably have 30 to 40 athletes who have qualified for state,” Coach Maurice Henriques said. The Cougars are just coming off a Longs Peak Conference meet held at Longmont High School last weekend. The St. Vrain Invitational on Friday, May 13, will be the last tuneup for Niwot as the Cougars prepare to defend their titles. “We’re not quite sure of some of the rel...
North Carolina has been one of Niwot High grad Luke Kingsley's favorite teams since he was a little boy, according to his wife, Katie Spencer Kingsley, also a Niwot grad. As North Carolina made its way to an improbable Final Four appearance at the NCAA basketball championships in New Orleans, Luke got a call from a friend in North Carolina, who said, "I have a ticket for you, your wife and Brady...." As it turned out, the friend, Justin Cavenaugh, had met Luke at the Final Four in Phoenix in...
Niwot pitcher Jack Brooker made quick work of The Academy lineup in the first inning of a 10-8 Cougar win April 30. After retiring the leadoff hitter on a lazy fly ball to centerfielder Brock Rothstein, the next batter beat out a soft grounder in the infield. Brooker then picked the runner off first base with a quick move to first baseman Julian Lettow, who ran the runner toward second base where shortstop Jed Kilpatrick applied the tag. Brooker finished the inning by striking out the next batte...
Hangge Fields at Monarch Park will host Opening Day ceremonies on Sunday, May 1st, for the Niwot Youth Sports baseball and softball seasons. Ball games will start earlier, but at 10 a.m., NYS officials will interrupt play to conduct an Opening Day ceremony, complete with a performance of the Star Spangled Banner by the Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band, and a special guest appearance by Dinger, official mascot of the Colorado Rockies. Families who have made significant...
A double play sealed a come-from-behind victory for Niwot over Northridge April 19, with the Cougars posting a hard-fought 8-7 win. Niwot took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with a four-run rally to put the Cougars on top by a run. Northridge got the tying run to second base with no outs, but a heads-up play by first baseman Jack Brooker on a bunt retired the runner at third base as Brooker fired to third-baseman Spencer Olson who applied the tag for the first out. With a runner on...
Wednesday afternoon, April 20, saw another evacuation of homes and animals due to a grass fire, this time near Table Mountain. A large plume of smoke west of Niwot was visible from the Diagonal Highway shortly after 3:00 p.m. and multiple calls to the Boulder County Communications Center resulted in a quick response from multiple agencies, who quickly brought the fire under control, despite windy conditions. According to the Boulder County Sheriff's office, the grass fire grew to be...
The Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee (LID) met April 6 at the Niwot Inn to consider two funding requests, both of which were approved. LID Chair Scott Firle welcomed Jeff Knight to his first meeting as a member of the committee. Knight was appointed by the Board of County Commissioners as the Niwot Community Association representative on the nine-member advisory board. He replaced longtime LID member and former chair Laura Skaggs. Mark Ruzzin, liaison to the LID from the...
Gale-force winds helped propel the Niwot Cougars to their first victory of the season April 7 with a 21-3 win over Berthoud. Coach Ken Rosales, in his first season at the helm, picked up his first victory after seven losses, several of the heart-wrenching variety (10-9, 1-0, and 6-5). But after a slow start in the first inning against Berthoud, which ended with the Cougars down 1-0, the bats came to life and Niwot, with the help of eight Berthoud errors, scored seven, six and eight runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings, respectively. Overall...
Veteran swimming coach Debbie Stewart is pleased with the early-season performance of her squad, which includes boys from Silver Creek and Niwot High schools, as well as a few other schools which don't have a team. And to top it off, Silver Creek has a brand new pool. "It's been beautiful," Stewart said. "Club teams are trying to get in," but St. Vrain Valley School District Athletic and Activities Director Chase McBride has kept it exclusively for use by district high school teams in the...
Jeff Knight, a Niwot resident since 2005, was appointed to the Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee (LID) by the Boulder County Commissioners. Knight was designated by the Niwot Community Association (NCA) as its nominee for the NCA representative position on the nine-member committee, which considers funding requests for sales tax dollars for projects and events which benefit the business district in Niwot. Knight, who resides in the Burgundy Park subdivision, also serves on the...
Weather has been winning the battle for the tennis courts this spring, but Niwot girls tennis is settling into the season with a 2-1 record and getting close to nailing down the lineup. The team returns three experienced players for the top three singles spots: Junior Alys Pop is #1, Senior Anna Sallee is #2 and Senior Georgia Lang is #3. All played on the team that took third in last year's Class 4A state championships. Four freshmen have landed a spot on the team. The top three doubles spots...
"Late November back in '96...' (to paraphrase an old Four Seasons song - December, 1963), seven of us got together to talk about creating a newspaper in the Niwot-Gunbarrel area. In alphabetical order - Karen Copperberg, Ron Goodman, Selene {Luna) Hall, Lori Lindemann, Mary Wolbach Lopert, Vicki Maurer and Bruce (Biff) Warren. None of us had any real newspaper experience beyond our high school years. We reached out to several people to see if they were interested in joining us, but in the end,...
In celebration of 25 years, the Courier staff thought it would be fun to give a brief summary of articles from Volume 1, Issue Number 1 of the Left Hand Valley Courier, published April 1, 1997: - Niwot celebrated the recording of the town plat 122 years prior on March 30, 1875. - Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church added 5,000 square feet to its building. - Niwot High School was celebrating 25 years of educating local high school students. - Niwot Elementary School sent a team to Odyssey of...
BASEBALL David Bote, son of longtime Niwot High baseball coach Bob Bote, was placed on the 60-day injured list by the Chicago Cubs on March 19 as he continues to recover from off-season shoulder surgery. Bote, an infielder, dislocated his left shoulder while reaching back to touch second base after a slide sent him past the base on May 30, 2021. He missed almost two months of the season, but returned on July 25, only to go back on the injured list with a sprained ankle August 28. He is expected...
Deborah Read Fowler, NBA vice-president and chief architect of Niwot's Small Town/Big Heart fundraising effort to assist victims of the Marshall Fire, reported that the fund is now at $60,160.75 as of March 16. The Niwot Business Association's goal is to raise $100,000 from the Niwot community. Several Niwot businesses have hosted fundraising events, and students at Niwot High School have joined the effort. Donations are being administered by the Community Foundation for Boulder County, and so...
The pandemic has been a devastating time within our personal lives and within our local and national governmental operations. Now that life is returning to "normal," the Boulder Library Champions, a grassroots group of local volunteers, are interested in making some changes to the way the Boulder public library operates. They're also in need of book donations, in case you're interested in contributing to the group. On March 8, the Boulder Library Champions held a community meeting at the Left...
If you've dined at Raza Fresa in Niwot (or Ajuua! as it was formerly known) during the last 17 years, chances are good that you've been served by Kelly Paquette. Paquette began her career in the food service industry as manager of a Burger Chef restaurant. "It was my first job out of high school," the Platteville, Colo. native said. "When I had children, it became too many hours." Paquette then began a 12-year stint as a waitress at Colacci's, an Italian restaurant in Longmont. After the...
The Dodd Water Treatment Plant of the Left Hand Water District and Dodd Reservoir are named in honor of the Dodd family, which has contributed much to the history and development of the Niwot area. Alva M. Dodd came to the Niwot area in the 1860s, and married Della Gould, a member of the pioneering Gould family. They had 10 children, nine of whom remained in the area after they became adults. One son, Hugh Dodd, lived in the small house on the northwest corner of the intersection of Niwot Road...
When the Niwot Cougar baseball team took the field for the first time March 12, senior Walt Van Riper was on the mound. Van Riper went four innings in the opening 10-9 loss to Skyline in a non-league game, but was not involved in the decision. At the plate he had two hits in four plate appearances, scoring twice and driving in a run. The versatile Van Riper, who also started as a guard on the Cougar basketball team, is in his third season with the varsity squad, which boasts seven seniors. His...
The Niwot Sculpture Park at 79th Street and Niwot Road is a temporary home to numerous sculptures on loan from local, regional, and international artists. One of those sculptures will soon be on permanent display. Through a competitive process, artists submit applications to the Sculpture Park Committee, which selects art to exhibit for at least 12 months. These pieces are for sale in the sculpture garden, with prices marked on small plaques near the sculptures. Currently, one piece has been...
There's no place in Colorado quite like Niwot, and, with its high quality schools, close-knit community, and bucolic setting, no better place to live, local resident Pat Murphy contends. That was true in 1976 when she was an up-and-coming realtor selling residential lots in Morton Heights, and remains true 46 years later, even as her beloved town has more than doubled in size. Through it all, the now-seasoned real estate professional has been a tireless advocate for the little enclave outside...
This is not an April Fool's "announcement.".... The Left Hand Valley Courier will mark 25 years of serving the Niwot-Gunbarrel community on Friday, April 1, with an Open House from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the courtyard outside the offices of Warren, Carlson & Moore, LLP, Attorneys located in Cottonwood Square. The community is invited to join the founders and current staff of the newspaper for a celebration outside the law office, where the staff meets once a week to plan each edition of the weekly newspaper. The Courier is the only independently...
Tony Engel is the new coach in charge of the Niwot High School girls volleyball program, but he is not new to the team. Engel was introduced to parents and players by NHS athletic director Joe Brown on March 2, but many in attendance were already familiar with the former assistant coach, who moved into the head coaching position after six-year veteran Daisha Agho resigned last fall to take an administrative position at Berthoud High School. Engel noted that the program had made much progress...
With seven seniors, new head coach Ken Rosales has a strong core to build upon in his first season in charge of the storied NHS baseball program, which has five 4A state championships to its credit, though none more recent than 2005. Rosales, a school resource officer at Niwot High, has worked with the Boulder County Sheriff's Department for 21 years, and was head baseball coach at Lyons High School for eight years, where his teams made the state tournament four times. He first got into...
As of Feb. 18, Boulder County Public Health's two public health orders requiring masks in public indoor spaces expired. For the first time in months, no one was forced to wear face coverings inside, although they could if they wanted to. Some do. A careful eye in retail spaces around town indicates this. Many customers waiting in line for coffee in Cottonwood Square's Winot Coffee Company one morning were maskless on one recent morning. At one point, a single masked individual came in. "I'm...
Motorists traveling on 95th Street (also known as Hover Road) near the intersection with Niwot Road notice a sandstone sign on the west side of the road: "Howard L. Morton Water Reclamation Facility, Niwot Sanitation District." The district offices as well as the actual water treatment facility sit farther back from the sign, accessed by a narrow road which dead ends at the offices. Howard L. Morton farmed the land up the hill and east of the small community of Niwot, which had been platted in...
The Niwot Gig held a grand opening Saturday, Feb. 19, at the newly remodeled space behind Fan's Chinese Restaurant in Cottonwood Square, with owners Martin Marks and Alana Marks on hand to welcome the community. They were joined by their soon-to-be 11-year-old daughter, Odette, an accomplished musician in her own right. Popcorn, pumpkin bread and poppy-seed bread were part of the celebration, along with coffee and hot chocolate from Winot Coffee to wash it down. Music director Martin Marks, who...
